Always
by Vega Dreamer
Summary: A race against time to play a mad man's sick game. Losing is not an option. Possible character death. AU Fic but its not THAT out there, see genres. On semi-permanent hiatus as of 06/09
1. A Rose By Any Other Name

_Disclaimer: The characters contained within this story do not belong to me (I really wish they did though, did I mention my birthday's coming up? lol)_

_A/N: This is my very first ever fiction, it just came to me, so please be nice! Comments and pointers would be greatly appreciated! Please R&R! Also, I don't have a beta so if you catch any mistakes, tell me and I'll be happy to correct them._

**Chapter 1: A Rose By Any Other Name

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**

The warehouse was old, dirty. The windows were vandalized. The floor was covered with dust, save certain spots throughout the room where footprints were visible. The door to the warehouse had been bolted when they arrived. There were wooden crates stacked on either side of the long room. One way, in, and one way out, as long as you didn't just climb out one of the windows. A pool of blood in the center of the room and some drag marks leading away from it were the only source of color in the room.

The blood's fresh, but it smells like something had a few days to decompose, noted Grissom with a sigh, this would be a long night.

"What do you think?" Brass asked, walking up behind him.

"I think someone was murdered and dragged of," replied Grissom matter-of-factly, pointing to the pool of blood and the drag marks leading away from it. "Who called this in?"

"Some kids, they were snooping around, said they had heard some ghost stories about this place or some other bullshit. The kids were around fourteen and fifteen, so if you ask me, they just came here to vandalize the place a little more, a cheap thrill." Brass paused, shining his flashlight across the deserted room, the light reflecting off the broken shards of glass hanging from the windows. "So anyway, the kids came in through the window, saw the blood, smelled the decomp, ran away and called us. What do you think?"

Catherine walked up behind Brass, "I think that we might be looking at a double murder, one person killed, starts decomposing, killer brings in another vic, kills that one drags both of them away."

"Pretty good theory," said a slightly impressed Grissom, "Now let's find some evidence to back it up." He shined his flashlight into one of the blood trails, following it across the warehouse. Brass walked back outside to speak to the kids who had found the blood again.

Catherine followed the second blood trail into the sea of crates. She had to stop almost as soon as she started through the crates. "The blood trail stops where the crates begin," she called out, bending down to examine the blood trail's abrupt stop. "Someone took some time to stack these crates on top of the trail. I've got a feeling that we'll find the source of the smell once we remove them."

Grissom wandered over from the other side of the warehouse, "I've got the same problem over there," he said, shaking his head, "Someone did put a lot of time and effort into moving the crates. And each and every one of them is a piece of evidence." Catherine groaned.

"Great, so first we've got to move the crates, then we've got to haul them all back to the lab? Just great!" Catherine stomped her foot, "Where are the guys? Did you call them?"

"Warrick and Nick just finished up that college dorm case, and Greg just finished admitting the rest of his evidence, they're on their way as we speak, I told them to high tail it over here." he answered, flashing her a questioning look at her sudden outburst.

Offering no explanation for the outburst, Catherine set her kit down and walked outside, breathing in the warm summer Nevada air. A welcome relief after the smell of decomposing body. She looked hesitant before she asked the question she had been leaning towards. "Where's Sara, is she coming?" Catherine asked in what she seemed to think was a nonchalant tone of voice.

For a split second, Grissom looked startled at the mention of Sara's name. But he quickly recovered, starting to collect blood from the pool on the floor, "Um, no. Sara asked me yesterday if she could take the day off, something about needing some time alone to think. She seemed a little upset," Grissom walked out of the warehouse, tucking a used blood swab into an evidence bag as he came, "Why?" he asked, in an equally feigned tone of voice.

A rare look of guilt passed over Catherine's confused features, "No reason, I just didn't see her today and I wondered if she was coming." Catherine shrugged, turning towards the SUV that had just pulled into the lot.

"We're not understaffed tonight so it's unlikely I'll have to call her in," Nick, Greg, and Warrick climbed out of the SUV, "Is there something going no between the two of you, a fight of some kind perhaps?"

Catherine winced, Grissom had hit the nail on the head, as usual. She turned to face him. He waited for a reply, knowing that he'd guessed the source of the problem correctly. "It's nothing, really," she added seeing his look of doubt, they both knew perfectly well that when Catherine and Sara 'argued' it was an all out war, "She was just acting a little weird, we were both having rough nights. I'll be the first to admit that I was out of line, and the second I see her again I'll apologize. There is just so much going on right now with Lindsey, I was stressed, she was an easy target." Grissom gave her a look.

"Okay, so I heard something about some crates and you two needing a strong man to get them out of the way for you?" Nick walked up to the warehouse entrance where Grissom and Catherine were standing, rubbing his gloved hands together. Warrick and Greg followed.

"Not that you're not strong or anything Gris," Warrick said, smiling.

"I'm going to just pretend that you two aren't making jokes at my expense and move on. Nicky, you're with me, we'll move the boxes on the left, there are a lot less of them so we can manage with just the two of us. Catherine, Greg, and Warrick, you three take the right side." Grissom donned a fresh pair of gloves and headed towards the crates. "The only crates we'll move and mark at the moment will be the ones that are on top of and within a foot of the blood trail. Any questions?" There were none. Grissom didn't seem in the mood for joking at the moment, and after hearing of Catherine and Sara's little fight, he seemed to be too deep in thought for anyone to bother him.

* * *

After about an hour of shifting crates, most on either side of the room had been relocated away from the blood trail. It was hard work, but not because the boxes were heavy. It was hard trying to be sure the blood evidence was preserved. 

In the hour that they'd been working, it had been silent. In the first few minutes, Greg made some futile attempts at conversation, but soon gave up altogether, occasionally humming a tune to himself.

Nick called out once, after noticing writing on one of the crates he was moving, "It says: That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Everybody looked at Grissom.

"That is a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I don't know what it's supposed to mean. Maybe our killer has a sick sense of humor." After that, everything went silent again until another hour had passed.

"We've got a body here!" Nick called out again suddenly, startling everyone, Grissom almost dropped the crate he was carrying, "Get David in here!"

* * *

Mere minutes later, the young coroner strode through the door. "How'd you get here so fast?" Greg asked, taking a drink of his water. 

"I've been here, I was just waiting for the body," he replied, letting Grissom lead him in the direction of the body.

"While you're checking out the body, I'm going to get some fresh air," Grissom showed him the body and walked outside.

A chorus of "me too's" followed Grissom's statement, leaving only Catherine and David alone with the corpse. It was face down, fully clothed, with no visible head trauma, gun shot, or stab wounds. "All of the damage must be to the front of the body," David noted, "Caucasian female, hasn't been dead for more than six hours from what I can see at this point."

"Let's flip her over, see what else we can find?" Catherine said jokingly, after a couple hours of silence she was in a much better mood.

David tucked his gloved hand under the victim's stomach and pulled, flipping the body over. The front of the body and the face was now visible.

David stifled a cry, standing up and backing away. Catherine couldn't think straight she felt all the blood rushing to her head. Unlike David, she was unable to contain her horror at the sight in front of her. A scream escaped from her throat. It broke the silence of the night like a gunshot would. She didn't stop with one scream, she couldn't.

* * *

Police cars were off in the distance, securing the perimeter. Brass was long gone, having left hours earlier for another case. So after they had left Catherine and David with the body, the guys were all alone outside as they went their separate ways. Greg, Warrick and Nick went to the SUV to get more water and relax for a few minutes, while Grissom took a little walk. He didn't walk far, just around the warehouse. If anyone asked, he was looking for evidence. Grissom had so many thoughts on his mind at the moment, he couldn't even begin to sort through them. That was happening more and more since Brass was shot and had nearly died. 

Grissom was just beginning to get some sort of control over his own thoughts when he was interrupted by a piercing scream. Without considering what might have happened, he dashed back towards the warehouse entrance. The other three, having heard the scream as well, were at his heels.

Tears were streaming down Catherine's face and the young coroner looked horrorstricken, small cries of anguish escaped Catherine's throat through her sobs.

"What happened?" Warrick cried, running to Catherine, holding her with the intention of calming her. He followed her gaze to the corpse, "Oh my god….." was all he was able to let out.

Greg and Nick were already looking at the corpse, Greg was shaking his head slowly, Nick clamped his eyes shut as if to block out the image. Grissom inched forward cautiously around the crates that were still blocking his view. He was dreading what he would see. He made it around the crates that had been blocking his view of the body, and when he saw what the others had been staring at, a wave of numbing cold washed over him.

Sara Sidle's lifeless eyes were staring up at him.

To Be Continued……..


	2. Those Lyin' Eyes

_A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I've just been really busy with everything in my life. Thank you for the reviews, they've really helped me to figure out exactly where I'm going with this story!_

**Chapter 2: Those Lyin' Eyes

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Catherine was completely losing it. The cries had stopped, but tears were still streaming down her face. Her knees buckled under her, and if not for Warrick's arms around her, she would have been nothing but a crumpled heap on the ground.

Nobody knew how long they all just stood there. The same thought drifted through each person's head: This cannot be happening.

Grissom was the first to snap out of the daze. "Warrick, get her out of here," he said quietly, never taking his eyes off of Sara's.

Warrick gently lead Catherine out of the warehouse, his arms still tightly wrapped around her slim waist.

Everything went silent again for a moment. "How did we not know that she was missing?" Greg asked, finally ripping his eyes away from the dead body, looking a little green.

"It's not possible," Nick spoke up, "She can't just be gone, not like this, not without-"

"Without what?" Grissom snapped, "Without saying goodbye? We do this every day Nick, you know that's not the way it works." Grissom still had his gaze fixed on her eyes.

"Oh god!" Cried Greg glancing at the corpse again, clutching his stomach, "I think I'm gonna be sick," Greg doubled over, trying to get away from the scene so he didn't contaminate it.

"You need some air Greggo, now," Nick grabbed him and rushed him outside, they both had tears in their eyes.

"I guess I should, you know, check out the body?" David asked uncertainly.

"Not quite yet, but do me a favor, look at the eyes," Grissom said slowly, finally looking away from Sara's eyes and up at David.

"At the eyes? Why?"

"Just do it, please."

David inched back towards the dead body, leaning towards the face. "Why are you so interested in the eyes?"

"Just humor me."

David kneeled down, staring into the eyes that were once so full of life. David furrowed his brow in confusion. "The eyes, they're glassy!" David looked up at Grissom.

Grissom nodded his head, "And when are human eyes glassy like that?"

* * *

Outside, Warrick led Catherine to the SUV.

"Just breathe," he told her.

"I can't believe it, she can't be gone," Catherine wiped tears away from her cheeks with the back of her hand, "And of course the last thing that I ever said to her would be that she was just trying to drag everyone down with her."

Warrick looked at her, "When did she try to drag someone down with her?"

"She didn't, that's why I said it, so that I could make her angry, then I wouldn't feel so bad!"

"Cat, it's okay. We all say things that we don't mean, and I'm sure that Sara would have forgiven you," Warrick reached up to wipe away another tear that was making its way down her face.

"It's just not fair, too many people dying in the last few years. Holly Gribs, Eddie, Sam. We almost lost Nick and Brass, and Greg was beat up by those kids. And now Sara!"

"No one else is going anywhere any time soon, don't you worry," Warrick smiled, Catherine had stopped crying.

"You say that now, but how can you know for sure?"

"Don't talk like that!" Warrick put his hand under Catherine's chin, holding her face in his hands, "I promise that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Catherine smiled weakly, shifting a little in the passenger's seat of the SUV. Warrick was standing in the open door, needless to say it was a little awkward.

Warrick kept his hands on Catherine's face, inching closer. Softly, he touched his lips to hers, savoring the moment. He smiled sadly, "Feel better?" She nodded her head. His eyes filled with tears.

* * *

"No more puking okay?" Nick joked without feeling.

"I thought that my biggest dilemma today would be what to order for lunch," Greg said sadly, plopping down into the dirt.

Tears filled the two men's eyes, threatening to overflow. Nick sat down next to Greg, putting an arm on his shoulders.

"We're all gonna miss her Greggo, I guess it's just inevitable that something like this happen, you know? It seems like we can't be happy for very long without something bad happening." A tear rolled down Nick's cheek as he spoke. "God I'll miss her….."

"Life is too short. You'd think we'd know that by now, we deal with death every day! I guess we never really think about it until it hits close to home."

"We need to go back," Nick got up suddenly, shaking the dirt from his jeans, "We have to find out who did this to her."

"You know that I had a crush on her once right? Everyone knew. I don't any more, haven't for a while, she's just a really good friend," Greg looked serious, "They're gonna pay for what they did to her."

* * *

"They're not, human eyes aren't glassy like that!" David tapped the eyeball, "It's glass! Not a real eye," he turned around, stunned, "Why isn't it a real eye?"

"What else isn't real about the body? Anything?" Grissom let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, he had known that there was something wrong with the eyes, it had just taken a few minutes to register.

David bent down, closely examining Sara's body. He picked up her hand, flexing it, feeling the skin, examining the nails. "Not a real hand! What the hell is going on here? The skin feels rubbery, almost like one of those 'real life dolls'. It's like a doll's hand. Grissom?" David looked at him again, confusion etched in every feature.

"You're the coroner, what do you think it means?"

"The only cuts on the hand and wrist are vertical, so that means the hand wasn't cut off and replaced, and there's no blood around the eyes, so they weren't replaced. There's only one thing that all of this can mean," David stood up, shaking his head in bewilderment, "This is _not _a real body."

Tears of relief built in Grissom's eyes, this was the first sign that he had been truly upset by the sight of what they had believed to be Sara's dead body. "Not a real body," he repeated, looking almost afraid to believe it. "What kind of sick person would do something like this?"

"I don't know, but this would have taken a very long time to create something that looks so real. But," David smiled, "If this is a fake Sara, where's the real Sara?"

* * *

Grissom ran out of the warehouse, a grin plastered on his face. He bumped into Nick and Greg, who were on their way back into the warehouse.

"Why are you smiling?" Greg asked, looking disgusted.

"None of it is real!" he replied, taking out his cell phone and scrolling through the numbers. He selected one and put the phone to his ear. He walked out of earshot.

"I think he finally lost it," Nick said, turning to David as he walked towards them, "What is wrong with Grissom?"

David filled them in on all that had occurred in the ten minutes since they had left to go outside. Upon their disbelief, he led them to the fake body, showing them the eyes and hands.

Their tears were now replaced by tears of relief and confusion, why had someone done something like this?

* * *

"Sara?" Grissom said into his phone, heading away from Greg and Nick and towards the SUV where Catherine and Warrick were still sitting, "If you're there, please pick up the phone." No answer, "This is important, please pick the phone up." The line went dead, bad reception.

"Gris?" Warrick stepped out of the passenger's door, "What's going on?"

Grissom filled them in, receiving looks of disbelief that were the same as what David had received from Nick and Greg. Catherine climbed out of the car.

"You're sure?" she said.

"Positive."

"Warrick, do you have the keys to the SUV?" Catherine asked suddenly. He held them out, she snatched them from his fingers. Catherine ran to the driver's side of the car, climbing in and thrusting the keys into the ignition. She backed the car out of the lot and away from the warehouse, heading down the street.

Grissom and Warrick watched her go, still wondering what had just happened.

To Be Continued

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_A/N: Have I got your attention now? I'll try to update soon! I hope you guys are liking the story so far!_


	3. Trust Me

_Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me!_

_A/N: Thank you for all of the great reviews and support! I promise to try to update far more often. It's not that I've had a case of writer's block, I know what I'm going to write for the next chapter or two, I just need more time! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!

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**Chapter 3:Trust Me**

Catherine drove as fast as she could get away with along the crowded Las Vegas Strip. In one hand she expertly managed the steering wheel of the LVPD issue SUV, and in the other she had her cell phone planted onto her ear.

"Sara, seriously, if you're home pick up the phone," She had called repeatedly, each time reaching the answering machine.

By now Catherine was losing it completely. First Sara was dead. Then she wasn't. Then she was actually a doll in a warehouse. And now she might actually be dead because she wasn't answering her phone and nobody had heard from her.

Catherine dialed Sara's home phone again, quickly reaching the answering machine. "Sara, I know that I'm probably the last person that you want to talk to right now, but humor me. Pick up the phone!" Catherine hung up, throwing the phone into the passenger's seat, where just a half an hour earlier she had been sitting in Warrick's arms.

Catherine concentrated on the road, recalling the way to Sara's apartment. She picked up her phone, this time dialing the lab. "Have there been any calls from Sara Sidle?" she asked when the receptionist answered. Upon hearing that Sara Sidle had not called and that no one had seen her since the day before, Catherine once again threw her cell phone into the passenger's seat.

Catherine kept picturing what she'd find once she arrived at the apartment. The door would be unlocked, everything in sight would be broken, and upon entering another room she would be greeted by the familiar stench of blood and decomp. Catherine shook her head to rid herself of the horrid picture.

Catherine was only a few blocks away, glancing toward the abandoned cell phone, she decided to give it one more try. She wouldn't be hysterical or lose her temper, and maybe if Sara was around she would answer the phone. The phone rang three times, the answering machine clicked on with Sara's voice saying to leave a message. "Okay Sara, I'm um, just checking in on you to see that everything's alright," Catherine struggled to keep her tone of voice straight, "Are you there? If you are could you pick up the phone?" Catherine was really pushing it now, she knew she sounded too nice, but she was scared, "Sara? Hello?" she couldn't keep calm anymore, "Damn it Sara! Answer the damn-" The answering machine beeped, signaling the end of the message that Catherine could leave.

Catherine cursed as she turned into the parking lot of a small apartment complex. She pulled into an empty space and took deep breaths to calm herself. Slowly she got out of the car and entered the front door of the complex. She ascended the carpeted stairs two at a time, stopping only when she had reached the third floor. Catherine headed quickly to the end of the hall, pausing before the familiar apartment number that was Sara's home.

Catherine knocked on the door, still dreading what she might find behind it.

* * *

For a long while after Catherine sped off, Grissom and Warrick stood in silence. Even when Greg and Nick came along, it went unnoticed. David was about to tell them that he was going to leave, because there wasn't really a need for a coroner, but decided to leave them in silence.

"I swear, this has been the weirdest day of my life," Greg said, breaking the silence that had engulfed them for so long, "How did we not know that it wasn't a real body? I mean we're trained professionals and we can't even tell the difference between a corpse and a doll?"

"We didn't look at the details, it was just another murder case, and when we saw what we thought was Sara, all sense of logic and reason went out the window," Nick replied to Greg's question.

"Shouldn't we process the scene?" Warrick asked.

Grissom finally spoke, and after having been silent for most of the day, his voice was scratchy, "The fake body needs to be taken back to the lab, all of the crates need to be loaded up, and someone needs to call Brass to tell him what's going on. I'm taking the body, you three process the scene." Grissom walked back to the warehouse, dragging his feet. He emerged with a body bag on a cart, he loaded it into his truck and drove off without another word.

Greg, Warrick, and Nick went back to work, joking and laughing, trying to forget all that had occurred so far that day. They tried to pretend to be happy so that they could concentrate on work until they got more answers.

* * *

Catherine knocked loudly on the door. Once, twice, three times, until she was pounding on the door. "Sara!" she called, still banging on the door, she didn't care who she disturbed. Catherine took a break from her pounding, listening intently, she pressed her ear to the cool wood of the door, hearing a faint shuffling noise. The lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing a grumpy and disheveled, but very alive Sara.

"Okay Cath, I know that for you, harassing me at work isn't quite enough, but do you really have to come to my apartment to do it?" Sara asked exasperatedly, seeming to be close to tears, "And before you even ask, no I wasn't planning on committing suicide before you barged in," she rolled her eyes, which were now filling with tears.

Catherine still stood outside the door, the happiness that she'd felt to see when Sara answered the door was quickly being replaced once more with guilt. Catherine remembered the argument that had impacted both women so greatly.

* * *

_Sara had been sitting in the break room, drinking her coffee and looking through a case file. The two women had never been what anyone would call friends, but they had always been able to set aside most of their differences in order to work together professionally. _

_Shift had ended about thirty minutes before, and Sara was just starting on her overtime, lately that hadn't been the case, but tonight seemed to be different. Every few seconds Sara's eyes would fill with tears, only to be quickly rubbed away with the back of her hand and hidden as Sara took a drink from her coffee cup. _

_Catherine walked in the break room to find Sara like this, concealing her tears and downing coffee. Catherine had been especially moody lately, ever since everything that had happened with Keppler. She hadn't been letting it get to her, but tonight she was at her limit. _

"_What's wrong with you?" Catherine asked without a touch of sympathy in her voice._

_Sara cleared her throat, shuffling her papers and quickly rubbing her weepy eyes once more, "Nothing! I-I-it's nothing! I was just making sure I didn't miss anything on this case, we got the guy to confess but a couple of things are still striking me as a little bit fishy. I thought that everyone had left?"_

"_You guessed wrong," Sara flinched at this statement coupled with the tone of Catherine's voice, "The guys are gone, except for Grissom of course, I was just about to leave, I just had to file some paperwork."_

"_Oh, okay," Sara picked up her files and her coffee, "I think that I'll call it a night too, I'm, uh, beat."_

_Catherine wasn't' just going to let her walk off without another word, she had a chance to vent and she wasn't going to miss out, she continued, "Why are you so weird lately? I mean, you're always weird, but, since Grissom went on his sabbatical, and now that he's back, you're just, weirder," Catherine wasn't usually mean to Sara like this, but she had walked in on her either in tears or not far from it one too many times this week. _

"_What? I really don't know what I did to get you so pissed of Catherine, but whatever it was, I certainly don't deserve to be treated like this!" Sara said angrily._

"_Don't even start! You're always moping when you think no one is looking! Crying," Catherine pointed at Sara's puffy eyes, "You act like your attitude and the way that you act doesn't effect the people around you, but it does! This job is hard enough already without you dragging everyone down with you into your suicidal hell hole."_

"_Excuse me?" Sara was bright red, "I'm not suicidal! If anyone has real issues, that would be you Catherine! Always in everyone else's business, acting like a bitch when you don't get your way! I'm not putting up with this!" Sara was crying freely now, trying desperately to wipe away the tears. _

_Catherine had never seen Sara this upset, but she was far beyond the point of caring. She would deal with the implications of her actions tomorrow, but for now, she was on a bitchy role, "Don't even try to deny it! There are even bets on how long it will take you to kill yourself, it's sooo obvious. And now with you all but ignoring Grissom? And don't even get me started on how you act with the rest of the team, sure, you're professional, but that's all, you're like a robot! Pathetic."_

"_You know Cath, you're right about a lot of things, but you know nothing about me! I'm sorry that I've never met your standards, but frankly, I've never given a rat's ass about your damn standards. I haven't done anything to you, you just verbally attack me out of no where. I'm in therapy, I realize when I need something, but seriously, you need to see a psychologist." Sara, not willing to endure any more of Catherine's harassment, stalked out of the room without another word. _

_As she walked down the hall and out of sight, the picture of the sobbing brunette burned into Catherine's mind. Instantly, Catherine felt regret for her words, and the way that Sara had responded to them, but pride would not let Catherine chase Sara down and offer up an apology, "Tomorrow," Catherine said quietly, "I'll deal with this all tomorrow."

* * *

_

Sara stood in the doorway of her apartment looking quizzically at the red head that stood before her. "Are you going to say something or not?"

"I'm sorry," Catherine replied, in barely more than a whisper, her eyes filled with tears as she said it, she needed Sara to forgive her, but by no means expected her too.

"Wow, okay," Sara tilted her head, "You didn't come here to tell me what a horrible person I am I take it?"

"You're not a horrible person, I didn't mean any of what I said. I was way out of line, I'll be the first to admit that," Catherine couldn't hold it in any more, she started crying for the umpteenth time that day. She grabbed Sara, pulling her in to a hug. Hugs now, explanations later; all that mattered was that Sara was alive.

"Catherine?" Sara was more than a little surprised by the woman's sudden embrace, "What's going on? You were never one to feel this guilty, especially towards me, why the sudden change? What happened?"

"Trust me," Catherine pulled out of the hug, wiping her tired eyes and smiling softly, "You'll want to be sitting down before I tell you this; this will blow your mind."

Sara stepped away from the door without another word, holding the door open and allowing Catherine to step past her.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	4. Olive Branch

_A/N: Your reviews have really helped me figure out exactly where I'm going with this story. As you can see I'm making a conscious effort to update a lot more frequently._

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Chapter 4:Olive Branch_

"I really can't see what you're getting at," Sara said looking confused. Upon allowing Catherine into her apartment, she had quickly grabbed a stack of letters that had been sitting on her table and quite unceremoniously tossed them into a drawer, gesturing at the chairs on either side of the table.

"The body was yours, only not real," Catherine reiterated, at first Sara had been stunned to hear of her supposed death, but confusion now had the best of her. "It was a doll or something, I don't know, we'd have to go back to the lab."

"Right, so everybody thought that I died? And that would be the reason that you were so freaked out?" Sara got up and started pacing, "How did you guys not know that it wasn't a real body? It couldn't have been that good of a replica, its impossible to make something like that look completely real."

"From behind, I guess it looked pretty real, you know? Hair and head is all we could see. Then David flipped it over and I saw your face, and I mean it looked exactly like you! Most of the body was covered in some way or another and it was really just the face that we were focusing on."

"Right, I guess that does make some sense," Sara walked over to her kitchen counter and picked up her cell phone, apparently checking her missed calls.

Catherine looked around the apartment, it looked different from what she would have expected. She had been to the apartment before, but never inside. She would have expected just the necessities for Sara, a bookcase, laptop, maybe a chair or two, but the apartment looked roomy. It was the apartment of someone who wanted to be seen, wanted to be known, and it looked like she had company pretty often.

Sara was still busy with her cell phone so Catherine kept looking around. She ventured into Sara's bedroom. It was very nice, but it seemed bare compared to the rest of the house, it didn't look like she had been living there long, or like se had just come back from a recent trip.

"What are you doing?" Sara walked up behind Catherine.

"Just looking around," Catherine walked back into the living room.

"Apparently you guys were pretty worried about me! I had over thirty missed calls, the messages were even beginning to delete themselves because there were so many," Sara pointed to her cordless wall phone, "I don't usually unplug it on my days off, but last night I didn't want to be bothered. My cell was on vibrate. That's why I wasn't answering." Sara looked uncomfortable. "So you came and told me that you were sorry because you thought that I'd died. I guess you did your good deed for the day. You don't have to stick around here with me. I'll probably head into the lab anyways."

"Sara," Catherine looked serious, "I was sorry before everything that happened today. I know that we've never really been friends or anything, but maybe we should try. If we try, we can get along, and with our work, we can use as many friends as we can get right?"

"You don't have to do this because you feel sorry for me," Sara said pointedly, "I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me, and contrary to common belief, I don't try to be as screwed up as I am. But I've gotten over a lot of different things, I'm better."

"I don't feel sorry for you," Catherine was being brutally honest, "I've envied you so many times, sometimes the way that you act, you've just got it all together sometimes."

"So I guess that this is your way of offering up the olive branch?" At Catherine's quizzical look Sara explained, "You know? A peace offering?"

"Yes, I guess it is."

"Okay, it's accepted," Sara opened her front door, "Now could you go away?" Sara smiled, "I know that sometimes I may seem like a slob, but I really do occasionally shower. And I want to try to go in to the lab later. There's too much going on to take a day off."

Catherine smiled back, heading out the door. After this unexpected encounter, both women were feeling very good.

* * *

To Be Continued 

_A/N: Sorry that this chapter was so short! I just wanted to get out of the way exactly what happened between Sara and Catherine at the apartment. I promins that the next chapters won't be as short. In fact, I plan on getting to the good stuff very soon!_


	5. Twelve Hours Later

A/N: Ha ha! I'm horrible! It's been almost a year since I've updated this fic! My original idea for this story kinda went to the crapper for various reasons, and then life just kind of got in the way of me coming up with a new plan. So one thing led to another, and then I just sorta ended up completely ignoring this fic and working on some of my others. I promise to try to update as frequently as possible, I also promise that I won't wait a year in between updates. I'm going to see how far I can take this fic. As of right now, I have a rough idea of where I'm taking it, but there's no end in sight. So you'll just have to bear with me. Comments and reviews are always appreciated!

**Chapter 5: Twelve Hours Later**

"You know, if this was a real body, and it hadn't been discovered under these circumstances, I would say that it was a suicide." Dr. Robbins once again examined the doll, obviously impressed. He turned back to Grissom, gesturing for him to look at the arms of the doll. "These cuts on the arm are indicative of self-mutilation. Straight up and down, along the artery. I've only ever seen them in suicide related cases."

Grissom nodded, "Okay, we're going to treat this like a real murder case. Perform the autopsy like you usually would. Only, look for anything that could help us find who made the doll instead of COD. There was nothing substantial on the outside of the body, so its up to you now doc."

Grissom left as Dr. Robbins started on the body. He joined Nick and Greg in the garage where they were processing the crates that were found with the body.

"There is absolutely nothing of interest in any of these crates." Nick told Grissom tiredly, "While you were processing that doll, Greg and I were doing this. Twelve hours man, and nothing to report for all that work." Nick reported to Grissom as they followed him to his office.

Grissom rubbed his temples, "Right. Well then, is there anything that I can help out with? Or are you guys finished?"

"No, everything has already been done." Nick answered, taking a seat next to Greg across from Grissom's desk.

"You guys can go home then. Its been a hard night for everyone."

Nick and Greg left, leaving Grissom to stare at the door. Unless Warrick had found something at the warehouse, they had absolutely nothing.

Grissom was still staring at the door when Sara walked in.

She smiled, closing the door behind her, "Hodges is following me. He says that he'll be there if I need to talk about everything. What with my arguing with Catherine and then turning up dead, he thinks I might be having a bad week."

Grissom came out from behind his desk to sit next to her. "Where have you been?"

"I went with Catherine to process the scene. The source of the decomp? It was actually a dead dog."

"Did you find anything else?" Grissom studied Sara, noting how tired she looked. He was sure that she hadn't slept since the last time that he'd seen her, which had been about 36 hours before. He took her hand in his, feeling its warmth.

"Nope, absolutely nothing. I think that we're at a dead end. Not that there's actually been any _real _crime committed." She paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm not dead, Gil. You can stop looking at me like that." She smiled again.

Grissom stayed silent, diverting his gaze from Sara's face. An awkward tension filled the room.

Sara's smile faded. He really didn't want her near him, and she didn't know why. "Okay, fine. Anyway, I guess I just came here to fill you in on the case." Sara lifted herself out of the chair, looking away from Grissom, tears slowly filling her eyes. She headed for the door.

"Is that all you came for?" Grissom asked before she reached the door.

Sara shook her head. "It doesn't really seem to matter anymore though. Neither of us are really in the mood to talk anyway." Sara turned to leave the room again, pausing at the door as Grissom spoke once more.

"I know you're not mad at me, but I also don't know what's wrong. If we don't talk, there's no way for me to know." He didn't know why, but Sara really didn't want to be near him.

Sara didn't turn around, opening the door she replied softly, "That is the problem: we don't talk. But have you ever thought that maybe that's _your fault_?"

Grissom looked at the empty chair where Sara had been sitting moments before, not wanting to think about everything that he'd done lately to create the void between himself and Sara. His hand was still warm.

* * *

Dr. Robbins sat back in his chair and filled David in on the doll. "It's a perfect replica of a human body, complete with fake organs and small amounts of blood. It seems consistent with a suicide victim bleeding out, down to the way that the inside of the body would look. But if this was a real case, I would rule it a murder."

The young assistant coroner looked confused, "I thought that you said it was consistent with a suicide?"

"In many ways, it is. But as per Grissom, I examined the 'body' as I would any other. I found restraint and defense marks all over the body, and tox showed that the victim was drugged. Which was probably why there are so many defense marks, the victim woke up and freaked out. There are also signs of torture." Dr. Robbins paused to turn off the computer, cutting David off before he could speak again, "There was also signs of repeated sexual trauma. So yet again, if this was a real person, I would say that their death did not happen quickly. And it was far from painless. Now what were you going to say David?"

"Okay, I have a question," David looked over at the doll hesitantly, "This is a doll, so how did you get tox on it? And if it was real blood that you found, whose was it?"

"Some of the organs were made from spongy material, so I sent samples of them to trace, and trace booted pieces of it to tox. And as for the blood? Not real. Halloween shop issue." Dr. Robbins began to pack up his things.

"So, what are they gonna do about this?"

"Nothing." Dr. Robbins said matter-of-factly, "For now at least. There's nothing to go on. I got nothing that would even point them in the direction of a possible suspect."

* * *

Sara jumped as she felt an arm slide across her shoulders, she raised a hand defensively before realizing who the arm belonged to. "What are you still doing here?"

"Would it sound really creepy if I said that I was waiting for you?" Greg Sanders smiled, leaning up against Sara's car.

"That would depend on the occasion." Sara smiled back, wiping her face, not even trying to hide the fact that she's been crying. She didn't even remember the last time that she'd cried this much off and on over several days.

"I thought that maybe we could have breakfast. Just hang out for a while."

Sara sighed, punching Greg playfully, "If this is because if what happened with the-"

Greg cut her off, "It's not," he said seriously, "I just want to be with my friend."

Another ten minutes later, he and Sara were seated in a booth at a diner a few blocks from the lab. After the waitress left, Greg continued a conversation they'd started before being interrupted, "Its not that I feel like I need to spend time with you after we thought that you were dead."

Sara chuckled, "Then what is it that you feel?"

"That life is too short. We see it everyday, and yet, we all feel so ill prepared when something happens to someone that we're close to. You'd think we'd have learned by now that bad things can happen to anyone. I just feel like I have to make the most of the time that we have."

"And you're sure that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you thought I was dead this morning?" Sara asked sarcastically, a smile playing across her lips.

"Just a little. But what happened didn't have as much as much of an impact on my actions as you seem to think that it did. Not on _me _anyway." Greg looked at Sara over his soda.

"Are you implying that what happened had a pretty big impact on Catherine?" Greg nodded, trying not to laugh, "I think that I realize this. Seeing as she practically tried to break down my door."

Greg got serious, "You mean a lot to everyone Sara, whether you know it or not. Everyone was really freaked when we found that doll. You know? Even Warrick lost his cool façade. Catherine totally broke down, but you know how she gets when she's upset. And then add her feeling guilty into the mix, you've got a train wreck. Nick was cryin' and he was just kinda angry. David was just plain pale and we couldn't get him to talk. It was crazy." Greg nodded his thanks as the waitress placed his burger in front of him.

Sara nibbled at one of her fries absently, "What about Grissom?"

"What about him?" Greg said through a full mouth, spraying crumbs across the table.

"Not that I think that its good that you guys had to go through that or anything, but honestly, how many times in your life do you get to hear about others' reactions to your death?" Sara shrugged.

Greg swallowed before speaking this time, "Uh, like, never? Well, Grissom just kinda acted like, you know, Grissom." He started on his fries, hoping that he'd dodged the subject of Grissom.

"Like Grissom? And how is that? You know that his usual Grissomness changes occasionally." Sara forced a smile. Was it so bad that she wanted to know? Maybe it would explain a little bit of what was going on in that head of his.

"If you really want to know," Greg swallowed nervously, fearing Sara's reaction, "He didn't react. He just stood there, staring at your body. You know that look, where he's just curious. He just stood there examining it. I don't know, maybe I missed something. I was really upset, you know?"

"Yeah Greg," Sara patted his hand, swallowing the lump that had appeared in her throat, "I know."

"So moving on from your death, lets talk about your life," Greg got serious, "What's been wrong with you the past few days? I mean, you hide it pretty well from the average onlooker, but I know you Sara, I've seen you crying."

Sara knew that eventually he'd bring it up, she'd been preparing herself for the past hour. But now that he actually brought it up, it was difficult to explain. "You have to understand. Its not just one big thing. So forgive me for not giving you a straight answer. It's actually just a big mix of little things. In a word: Life."

"One little thing that just kinda sends you over the edge?"

"Yeah. And then before I know it, if I'm not focusing on anything, the tears just come out. It sucks! I haven't cried this much in years." Sara rolled her eyes.

"Would it help you to talk about it?" Greg asked, not liking to see his friend under so much duress.

"Don't take offense at this Greg, but to talk about it with you, would involve me explaining a lot of things to you. And it would make it worse for me to have to think in detail about the things that are bothering me."

"I understand Sara. Just know that if you need me, I'm here." Greg smiled apologetically as his cell phone started ringing.

"Greg?" Grissom's voice came through the small speaker.

"What's going on?"

"Have you seen Sara? She's not answering her phone. And I think that in the light of the recent events, someone should be with her at all times until we get to the bottom of this."

"That's a good idea," Greg glanced at Sara, "And she's fine. I'm sitting with her right now."

"Oh, um," Grissom sounded unsure of what to say, "Okay, well, just stay with her. Tell her what the plan is. If she refuses, tell her that its either her friends, or we get her a police escort."

"Right, okay. Do the others know?"

"They will. But I don't think that we'll switch off too often. I actually think that it will just be split up between you, me, and Nick."

"That's understandable. Cath has Lindsey, and Warrick has Tina. Us bachelors would be better suited for the job."

"Okay, keep in touch."

Greg hung up the phone, looking up at Sara nervously. "What was that about?" She asked, unsmiling.

"I guess that I'm your babysitter."

"Great. This should be fun."

"Well, if you really want to have fun, I could be your playmate if you'd rather…" Greg laughed as Sara punched him.

* * *

To Be Continued… 


	6. A Time To Hit The Road

**Chapter 6: A Time to Hit the Road**

It had been two days since the doll had been discovered. And amazingly enough, Las Vegas was very low on crime. What little crime there was usually had occurred during dayshift and swing shift. And the few things that happened under night shift were minor and petty crimes.

The case of Sara's dead doll was at an infinite standstill. There was absolutely no evidence. They had no idea why someone had gone through all the trouble of making the doll, or what they planned to accomplish.

"I'm bored," Greg complained, drinking yet another cup of coffee.

"If Grissom's in a good enough mood, I could bring out my videogames. Tons of fun man." Nick looked around at his coworkers, Warrick and Nick looked very interested at the prospect of playing videogames, Catherine and Sara looked like they couldn't care less. Neither woman had looked up from their books in over an hour. "So do we draw straws? Or does someone want to volunteer to go check on what kind of mood Gris is in?"

Warrick and Greg looked at each other, then back at Nick, shaking their heads and smiling. After a few rounds of failed "Rock, Paper, Scissors", the guys proceeded to search the break room for straws. After all this, Sara finally looked up from her book.

"I really don't think that he'll care if you play videogames." Nick stared at her, willing her to continue, "He's locked himself in his office. And there's nothing better to do."

"Au contraire," Grissom walked into the room holding a stack of papers. "Its seems that we do have something better to do than play videogames. Homicide out in Summerlin. We'd better split up into three pairs to get out there, because frankly, its going to be a long night. And I don't know what we're up against." Grissom handed each of them one of the papers that he was holding. "I expect you all to leave within the next ten minutes."

The team proceeded to clean up the break room and pair up. Catherine and Warrick finished and left the room within a couple of minutes, leaving the other four to figure out who was riding with whom.

"You wanna ride with me, or Greg?" Nick directed the question to Sara while filling up his thermos.

She glanced from Nick to Greg, then to Grissom, who had his keys in hand, and was ready to go. "I'll ride with Grissom." The three men looked startled at this statement, Sara laughed. "You guys have fun." Greg and Nick shrugged and left the room. Sara made her way over to Grissom, yanking the keys out of his hands and smiling, "Time to hit the road Gris."

Minutes later, Grissom and Sara were on their way out of Las Vegas. Sara couldn't help but smile to herself a little, she'd intentionally put herself and Grissom into a very awkward situation. The last time that they'd talked had been in his office two days before, and that hadn't gone very well. She hadn't really made an attempt to talk to him since then, and he hadn't either. She was getting the feeling that he still didn't want to be near her. Sara hoped that since they were stuck in a car together for the next couple of hours, they might be able to talk.

If he hadn't been so afraid of making himself look foolish, Grissom might have chuckled at the humor of the situation. Here he was, sitting in a vehicle with his girlfriend. He wasn't sure why she wanted to spend the three hour drive to Summerlin with him. He was sure that she was annoyed with him at the very least, especially with their last conversation. But Grissom couldn't help but be happy. This was the closest that he'd been to Sara in a few days, and he missed her.

"Interesting." Grissom thought out loud, smiling at his thoughts.

Sara shot him a sideways glance, "What is?"

"That you wanted to drive with me instead of Nick or Greg," He grinned nervously, he ran the very possible risk of getting himself in trouble if he wasn't reading Sara right. "I didn't think that you wanted to be around me, what with the way that everything has been going the past couple of days."

Sara glanced at him again, not bothering to hide her laughter. He gave her a confused look. He thought that she didn't want to be around him? And here she was thinking it was the other way around. She supposed that was what you got when you had lack of communication in a relationship. Sara willed herself to stop laughing, looking at the fading lights of Las Vegas in the rearview mirror before she spoke again, "Of course I want to be around you Gil, I love you."

Grissom beamed, this wasn't the answer that he'd been expecting, "You love me?"

"Seriously, why would I put up with you if I didn't?" Sara pulled over to the side of the road, unbuckling her seatbelt and turning to face him. "I think that our main problem is time. I need to make more time for you, and you need to make more time for me. For talking at the very least."

Grissom nodded, "You know that I never meant for any sort of misunderstanding between us, right? And you know that I accept the fact that I need to work on noticing your needs more?"

"Yeah, I do." Sara laughed as Grissom leaned across the center console to kiss her, "See? I knew that being confined to a car with you for a few hours would be that bad."

"And after work shouldn't be that bad either. Tonight's my night to baby-sit."

* * *

"I don't know what I was thinkin Cath, Tina didn't cross my mind when I did it. It was just, natural I guess." Warrick shrugged, leaning back, one hand on the steering wheel while he dragged the other through his hair.

"Feeling guilty for kissing me Warrick?" Catherine grinned behind her hand when he nodded, "Because that's not what I asked. I asked how things were going with Tina, not how you felt about kissing me."

"Come on Cath, do you really even need to ask that question? She and I fight constantly. She freaks when I work late, and now she even accuses me of cheating on her," Warrick scoffed, "If you ask me, she's the one that's been cheating. And with her ex, if you can believe that crap."

"Why would she accuse you of cheating? When it comes to relationships, you're just as monogamous as Grissom." Catherine laughed at the look he gave her at being compared to Grissom.

"You know Grissom's idea of us never letting Sara be alone because of what happened?" He continued at Catherine's nod, "Well, I mentioned it to her, and she said that she didn't believe me. She said that I knew Sara was single, and that I hung out with her often enough, so the only reason that I'd want to spend all my free time with her was if something was going on between us."

"Right. You know Warrick, I think that's about as possible as Grissom kissing Ecklie's ass."

"That's what I said, but did she believe me? No. She'd rather believe that I'd cheat on her before I'd help out a friend. I think that she's getting desperate for a divorce. And quite frankly, I am too."

Catherine placed a comforting hand on Warrick's arm, "I'm sorry. I know this must be hard for you."

"It's okay, I'll get over it. So can we talk about something else now? Please?"

"Do you think that Sara might really be in danger?" The thought had been nagging Catherine since the doll had been found. She hated the idea that yet again, one of her coworkers and friends could be in danger.

"I really don't know what to think, the entire thing is really creepy." Warrick answered, "I'm actually kinda hoping that this guy, whoever he is, decided to create a recreation of Sara and kill it. Instead of going through all the trouble of actually doing it to the real thing."

"Thank God too," Catherine shook the hair from her eyes, "It would have been a slow and painful death. And it would have destroyed Sara emotionally, with everything that would have been done to her."

"I'm just glad it's over. Even if the entire situation still strikes me as odd."

* * *

Police cars lined the curb along a quiet suburban street. Cops leaned against their cars lazily, sipping their stale coffee. One of the officers, Lieutenant Jeffrey Pollard, cursed his bad luck. It was ten minutes till the end of his shift when he received the call. Domestic disturbance. Neighbors heard a scuffle and gunshots and called the police. Lt. Pollard was the responding officer.

He saw the blood as soon as he entered the room. Someone was dead. No one lost that much blood and lived. And acting off of years of experience, he retraced his steps and made a call to the Las Vegas Crime Lab. They were the best of the best. Number two lab in the country. They were also three hours away, and that was if they weren't busy.

They said they would be there as quickly as possible, and not to let anyone enter the scene. That had been at 7. It was now 11. By now, Lt. Pollard had given up any and all hope that he'd still get to go home and enjoy a nice family dinner.

"When are those damned Crime Scene Techs gonna get here?" his partner complained.

"Patience is a virtue Lou," Lt. Pollard answered wearily, still sipping his stale coffee.

"What I don't understand, is why they won't even let their own coroner in? He'll be in and out. And then some of us can leave." Lou gestured to David, who was drumming his fingers on his steering wheel and checking his watch.

"You know the drill buddy. They might contaminate the evidence. The CSI's need to take pictures and have a look around before they can let the coroner in." Lt. Pollard sighed and checked his own watch. He looked up again when he saw an SUV pull into the still-silent street and park. Two men carrying silver cases exited the vehicle and made their way over to Detective Vega. Lt. Pollard headed over to where they were standing.

"I'm Nick Stokes, and this is Greg Sanders, what exactly have we got?" Nick asked Vega.

"One dead right inside the house. Enter through the front door and take a left. You'll see 'em right there in the living room." Vega answered.

"Who all has entered the scene?" Greg asked.

"Just me, and I didn't touch anything, I saw the body and left to call you guys." Lt. Pollard spoke up.

Nick and Greg nodded, looking to see if the others had arrived before they made their way over to the house.

Grissom and Sara were the last to arrive at the scene. They quickly exited their Denali, making their way over to where the others were standing.

"Why aren't you guys in there processing?" Grissom demanded.

"We were," Nick answered. Grissom noted that he looked pale in the dim light. "But we thought we should wait for you guys before we continued.

"All of you are more than capable investigators, there was no need to wait for us." Grissom rolled his eyes, thinking of the valuable time they'd wasted just standing there.

Nick shook his head, swallowing several times before continuing, "Well, this isn't a normal crime scene Grissom. We've got another fake body."

* * *

To Be Continued…

A/N: I do realize that it wouldn't be likely for ALL of them to go to the crime scene. So before you tell me, I know. Other than that little thing, I hope that you're enjoying the story so far! As always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.


	7. Not So Fun and Games

A/N: I'm sorry about the wait. I know that some of you are cursing me for being evil and ending the last chapter with a cliffhanger, and THEN not posting this chapter forever. Thanks for sticking around anyway. I promise that I'm working hard on the next chapter. And thank you to my new beta _HeavenSends _for attacking cough editing this chapter with her mighty blue and purple pens! Lol, you rock!

**Chapter 7: Not So Fun And Games**

"This is just wrong." Sara looked down at Greg's dead body.

"Are you scared yet?" Greg asked, grinning nervously at Sara's dirty look. "I'm a little scared. Now we know that this isn't just some sort of wild joke. Its more of a wild threat against CSIs everywhere."

"That's not funny Greg," Nick muttered, shining his flashlight along the mantelpiece in the corner of the room. He seriously hoped that it wasn't a threat. It wasn't like they were police officers, who were often the targets of grudges against the city or the system. So it meant that any sort of supposed threat would have to be personal, as in against the CSIs themselves. And that meant that the situation could get very dangerous.

"Who's laughing?" Greg responded to Nick's comment.

Warrick and Sara kneeled down next to the doll, cringing at the horrible sight. "There are one, two," Warrick counted off the bullet holes in the body, "Eleven bullet holes that I can see from here."

Sara inclined her head sadly, "I count eleven too."

Greg noticed his heart beating faster, and knew from experience his ability to think rationally was slipping, giving way to fear and paranoia. He fought to keep his cool, telling himself that he was not out of his league. Unwilling to let the panic take control over him, Greg closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He let his CSI training take control before opening his eyes again, and observing the room with fresh eyes.

The home was immaculate. The front hall looked open and welcoming, without a footprint in sight. The living room, which branched off of the hallway, was bright and illuminated the bloody corpse lying on the carpet. A huge blood pool stemmed in all directions from it, reaching out thickly to the rest of the room. It all but disappeared as it seeped from the rug and blended with the deeply stained hardwood. The body was lying on its side, its face turned to look at the door. Almost as if it still hoped in its last living moments that there would be some chance of escape.

But there hadn't been. The team spent the next few hours going through the motions of processing the scene. The arduous task wasn't made easier by having to look at Greg's motionless 'body' at every turn. The whole scene was alternatively creepy and heart wrenching; the fact that it was fake didn't make it any less so.

Nearly finished processing the scene, Greg bagged his final swab of the evening. He observed his teammates gathering their evidence and checking to make sure that they hadn't missed anything. He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I was finally able to get a hold of the owners." Brass began filling the CSIs in on the situation. "They're on vacation in the Bahamas. I'll have to talk to them when they get back. But honestly, I really don't think that they're people of interest."

"Good to know," Warrick commented. Taking a few more pictures and picking up his bagged evidence. "We've been here for hours, I think we have everything. So who wants to run it?"

Sara glanced at Greg, feeling a sudden chill. She rubbed her arms. "I'll-"

Nick cut her off, noting the disturbance in her features, "It looks like the victim was forced in here, judging by the defense marks on the hands and arms. This killer managed to control the victim, there's nothing disturbed in the entryway or the living room. And there's nothing that suggests the killer moved to any other room." He paused, rubbing his tired eyes.

Warrick picked up where Nick stopped. "So, he brings his vic here, wants him to suffer. He doesn't want to get caught so he doesn't do it in a familiar place, but a random house. He shoots the guy in the feet, then the knee caps. He let his vic be in agony for a little bit. After a while, he moved his way up, shooting him in the hands and arms, and sides. This suggests a familiarity with human anatomy. The killer knew where to shoot that wouldn't kill the victim immediately."

The others all made various noises of confirmation, partly they agreed and partly because they didn't want to spend another minute inside that house. Sara took the resulting silence as a cue to leave. She exited the scene, with the guys in tow, sealing it as they left. Grissom and Catherine had already finished the perimeter, and were loading up David's Tahoe with all the evidence. The rest of the team stood in silence, not sure of what else to say.

It was an extremely difficult situation. Everyone was stressed out and anxious. The fact that they had no idea what was going on was what was hurting everyone the most.

"I think that the killer was playing a game," Greg mentioned to no one in particular, "I checked the doll's pockets, and I found a cell phone. Judging by the position of the body, it stayed where it fell when it died. There aren't any ligature marks, so that means that the victim wasn't bound." Greg found it really creepy to think that he was talking about his own dead body. "The game would be the fact that at any time the victim could have called for help. I'd be willing to bet that he couldn't because he was in too much pain. Maybe he was shot in the hands first. That would add to the terror. Imagine it: Its excruciating to even try to move your hands, but if you could just dial on the phone it would all be over. You would survive. Hence the game."

"Game?" Sara asked, disgusted. She was already on edge from the events of the past few days, and frankly she hadn't had any real sort of privacy since that initial scare. The thought that Greg could find this in any way amusing, especially when Sara herself was beyond terrified, was just too much to bear. She wanted to break down and cry, just as she had been doing more and more frequently lately, but she didn't. Instead she turned to Greg, her mouth set in a grim line. "Games are fun Greg, what about this looks fun to you?"

"I don't think that it's _fun _Sara. So what I'm getting at is that we should check your doll. It's possible that there was some other sort of game going on with that doll. I think that whoever is doing this is trying to make a point."

Now, in addition to being bone weary and freaked out, Greg was annoyed. And of anyone present at this scene, he was sure that it was wearing on him the most. Sara knew this. She just looked away, staying silent. Her slumped posture was the only sign that something was amiss. Meanwhile, Greg's mind was screaming out at him. How could she just stand there, acting like the entire situation wasn't this huge, important thing? How could she say nothing? There was a fake body of her, too, for crying out loud!

Greg gave her a few moments, just in case there really was something she wanted to say. When Sara failed to offer up the slightest response, he went off. "I'm not like you. I'm not going to just pretend that I'm not freaked. I can't…" Greg fumbled for the words that would express the frustration he felt at her behavior, "You're the one that has trouble expressing any emotion besides anger, not me."

Sara took several steps back from his accusing form. "Excuse me? It's my business if I'm not openly freaking out about everything that's going on. Don't you dare pull a 'Catherine' on me." Sara took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before she said something she might regret. "I'm not going to let you pick a fight with me just because you're scared. You know that you're going to regret it later, so just back off know." She was really getting fed up with people taking out their anger on her. Sara frowned, was she really that easy of a target? Did people really think that she had no emotions?

Grissom made his way over from across the yard, noticing that his team was visibly on edge. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly calm himself. For one thing, he'd always hated cases that yielded no evidence. But add to it all the fact that his own CSIs were the 'victims', and the entire nature of the case changed as well as his feelings about it.

"David already took the body, so it doesn't matter how fast we get back," Grissom told the assembled, and haggard looking group. He rubbed his hands together, blowing on them to shake off the cold. He looked around at his CSIs, noting that they were all struggling to keep warm. It was time to go. Grissom checked his watch, "We've been here just over nine hours. You all must be starving. If you want to stop to eat on the way home, feel free. Just don't take too long."

Everyone nodded, heading to their respective vehicles. Grissom and Sara watched everyone drive away.

"We're almost done here," Grissom said, "We just need to bring Brass up to speed and then we can go."

Sara shrugged her shoulders, trying to suppress a shiver. Grissom shed his coat, draping it around her shoulders before leading her over to where Brass was standing. Sara was too cold to argue with Grissom for giving up his only source of warmth, so she merely drew it around herself, smiling softly at the familiar scent of her lover.

Was this person really playing a game as Greg had suggested? That would take the severity of the situation to a whole new level. Sara thought back to the autopsy report. Repeated sexual trauma, torture, restraint. That would be one of her worst nightmares. Being taken advantage of, hurt, and not being able to do anything about it. Being trapped in a living nightmare without the possibility of ever waking up. Unconsciously, Sara shivered again.

Sometimes she wished that she could simply cease thinking all together. She might sleep a little better at night if she did. Part of her stress was due to the fact that a replica of her own body had been found barely 48 hours previous. However, another large part came from the fact that she was never allowed to be alone. Actually, Grissom would probably have someone with Greg at all times now too, but Sara was sure that it wouldn't bother him in the same way it did her. Greg had always been more of a people person than she had, and she needed more space to herself than he did. She especially needed that space now with something like this on her mind.

Sara was snapped back to reality as she felt Grissom grip her arm lightly. "Let's get going before you freeze." Grissom smiled, making a small attempt to lessen the crushing weight of the current situation. He could see that something was bothering his companion, and he assumed it had to do with the case. Nonetheless, he wished she were willing to share it with him.

As they drove out of Summerlin in silence, Grissom went over both Sara's and Greg's cases in his mind, analyzing all the details and evidence. He sighed as he mentally filed them away. They still had nothing to go on.

* * *

"You hungry Greggo?" Nick asked after about an hour of riding in silence. 

"Yeah, I could use something to eat," Greg replied distractedly.

They stopped at the next restaurant they passed, digging greedily into their food when it arrived.

Wanting to fill the silence, Nick talked about the first thing that popped into his head, "So I met this girl."

"When?" Greg asked, always interested in Nick's love life. He was a very romantic guy, Greg was surprised that he hadn't been involved in a serious relationship long before now.

"About six months ago, I was at the grocery store. If you can believe that." Nick smiled, "She's beautiful, but in a natural sort of way. You know? None of that makeup, plastic surgery, smoke and mirrors type. She's definitely not your usual Vegas fare."

"A whole six months? Why didn't you mention her before? What's her name?" Greg was happy for the distraction, and also genuinely happy for Nick.

"Her name is Anne. She's a nurse. I actually have a date with her tomorrow night." Nick mentioned excitedly.

"I think I'd like to meet her," he said slyly, "You should bring her in to meet the team. We'll have to make sure that she's right for our little Nicky."

Nick chuckled again.

After a few more minutes of small talk, his face grew serious. "Are you okay man? You seem freaked after tonight."

"Wouldn't you be? I'm okay though."

"If you need to talk, you know-"

"Its fine, really. I've had worse happen to me." Greg shrugged, "It beats the hell out of having my ass kicked."

* * *

The team gathered in the break room after shift to discuss their plan. 

"Nick, you get to watch Greg tonight. I don't care what's going on, neither Greg nor Sara can be by themselves until we know if this is a threat against them. And they can't be alone together either." Grissom stated, surveying his audience.

Nick looked up from his post at the coffee pot, and nodded his agreement. He then turned back to poor himself another cup; he'd need it to keep up with Greg for the remainder of the night.

"What about me? Should I go with Sara?" Warrick asked, wanting to be there for his friend. While he and Sara might not have gotten off on the right foot when she first arrived in Vegas, over the years he'd come to know her as an amazing criminalist and woman. Although she often hid her personal feelings well, he could only imagine the toll the case must be taking on her.

"No. Not tonight. I've got it covered for the next few days. I live closest to Sara anyway." Grissom glanced at the brunette leaning against the wall.

"I'll keep working this case," Catherine said, "With Sara. We'll see if we can find anything new."

Sara gave a weary thumbs-up, confirming what Catherine said.

"Have a good day everybody. And get some rest, you guys deserve it," Grissom watched everybody leave before departing with Sara.

* * *

To Be Continued… 


End file.
